I plan to co-sleep with my son when he is born and ive been looking at the different co-sleepers available.. theres the ones that are like a bassinet that attatch to the side of the bed under the mattress... does anyone use one of these? this seems to me like it would be the best of both worlds, it would keep him close to me, i'd know he is safe, and it would make breastfeeding easier, but he'd still have his own little sleeping spot. but I'm not sure if I want to spend the money for one if i'm just going to end up having him in my bed anyway... I am a little worried about squishing him, or him suffocating bc i like to sleep with a lot of pillows around me. So i have also been looking at the "snuggle nest" type sleepers that go in the bed but have sort of "walls" to protect the baby and give him his own little spot. this still makes me a little uncomfortable though. I want him close to me, but I want to know that he's safe. any advice? I know everyone says that you're not going to squish your baby, and that that usually only happens when theres drugs or alcohol involved... but it still makes me a bit nervous. so I guess my question is whether or not to get one of these sleepers. does anyone use them?
I never had a need for one. My daughters always slept snuggled up right next to me, or on my chest. I felt like we both got better sleep because I could wake up just as she was stirring, roll over and BF while I was half asleep. Keep your snuggly pillows on one side, and your snuggly baby on the other. I still love it when my girls crawl into bed with me.
Moire sleeps in the crook of my arm. I'm normally a heavy sleeper, and normally sleep with tons of covers and pillows. But mothers are chemically programmed to sleep more lightly and wake more easily. You're not going to be a heavy sleeper anymore. And about the covers and pillows, just keep your room warmer, or wear more clothing. And keep the pillows BEHIND you. We bought one of those snugglenest things. Brian didn't want to roll over on Moire, so we compromised. It's gotten a lot of use.....
I had one of those basenittes that attached to the bed. I don't think Manny ever slept in it. Instead we used it as a "clothes holder"... for clothes that we've worn that weren't ready for the dirty clothes hamper. We moved it into the spare room a couple months ago, and now the cat has taken it over as his bed.... so I wouldn't say it was a complete waste! My husband used to worry about rolling over on the babe, but he would start to roll over and wake up to do a "baby search" before rolling.
we used the snuggle nest for the first 2 months of babe number 2's life, my husband is a very deep sleeper!! i bought mine on ebay and with shipping it was less than 20$
I had the arm's reach co-sleeper, which is a co-sleeper and also a pack n play type playpen thing, very portable. we didn't use it at home, Xander slept in the bed with me, but we used it when we stayed at my Dad's house since it was me and both kids in a full size bed there. It also got plenty of use as a playpen later on. I bought it used and it was fairly reasonable in price.
My birth attendant nodded wisely when I told her we were planning on using an arms reach co-sleeper. She told me it would end up being a "stuff catcher". She was right! It was great for keeping diapers and wipes and creams and blankets and stuff, it only ever held baby half a dozen times. We had no trouble at all with J sleeping with us. Just like Freek said, you'll sleep lighter. I am always "aware" of him, even in my deepest sleep, so is DH. If I try to crawl out of bed over DH he immedietly freaks out and bear hugs me cuz he thinks I'm J falling out of bed. It's kind of funny. Also, and I've heard other moms say this, I have caught J twice as he was rolling out of the bed and not even known what I was doing, the instincts are that strong! Plus, your sleep will be so much more restful. All I had to do was roll over and stuff boob in babes face and zonk back out. Very nice. Not too long ago we bought a full size crib for cheap on ebay and now that is on my size of the bed with the crib mattress even with our mattress and the bars on that side removed. It's sort of an extention on our bed b/c ours is only a queen and he's doing the toddler stretch-out-sideways-and hog half-the-bed-for-his-little-tiny-self thing. We LOVE having a family bed, even hubby. It's nice when you wake up in the morning and kind of chill with each other before everybody gets up to do their own thing. One last tip: DON'T TELL YOUR MOTHER IN LAW! Or any other uptight relation. You'll never hear the end of it and it's none of their business!
Oh yeah! NEVER tell a relative that you plan on co-sleeping. People still ask us if Moire is STILL in our bed, like it's some burden to them how we sleep in our family. I just nod and smile. "Pass the beandip" is a phrase a forumer friend uses to skirt issues like this, where they don't want to talk about it. I think the greatest thing about co-sleeping, is like Jayzz said. Our best memories from M's baby years will probably be waking up in the morning, rubbing her back and cooing at her to wake her up, her sleepyhead hair and eyes, morning smiles, and just how heavenly it was to be able to cuddle as a family before starting a hectic day. And it's only going to get better with the "babystare" and Moire starting to wake up and crawl up on daddy to sleep. Don't get me wrong. Co-sleeping is a PAIN. Sometimes, I sleep in the same position so long that my hip hurts when I wake up. Or my arm will fall asleep if I didn't get myself in the right position before positioning her. Or her every snort wakes me up. Or Bri's so beside himself with sleeplessness that a fight insues about the sleeping situation. But at the same time, it's the most rewarding pain ever.
My daughter has a co-sleeper. Her baby sleeps on her chest. Never uses the co-sleeper. From everything I've read there's never been a case of the mother rolling over and killing the baby that did not involve drugs or alcohol. Kathi
aw you mamas are so sweet. I guess i'm not going to get either of them and see how it goes. We just recieved a Pack-n-Play as a gift, so buying the arms reach co-sleeper seems even more pointless now. and I was just talking to my dad this morning about co-sleeping and he just commented on how much things have changed since I was a baby. He said back then (like it was such a long time ago.... lol ...) they acted like the worst thing you could do for your kid was let them sleep in your bed, and that once you let them in you'll never get them out. So I was telling him how it actually makes babies more independent and have more confidence... but theres always people out there who will shoot you down whatever you do.... *sigh* ... I don't plan on bringing it up with my in-laws or even my own mother. I know they would be very opinionated against it. I get enough "advice" from them that goes in one ear and right out the other anyway. haha.
I'm on baby number two with the co sleeping and i wouldn't have it any other way. My oldest is two and my youngest seven months. I have an arms reach cosleeper ($150) and i used it for a total of three months between both kids. My husband and i just put two mattresses together and all four of us sleep together. It's awesome. the only problem i ever had was when my oldest started crawling he fell off the bed and split his lip (it was just a tiny cut, but i almost had a heart attack and my husband swore off cosleeping forever) so we just took the bed off the frame and put it on the floor. and it's soooo true about telling your mother in law. mine drove me crazy the whole time telling me i needed a crib and then when i thought she was getting over it, i got pregnant again and the first question was "are you going to get a crib now? you can't have both of them in there" but it's great. just use common sence. if my husband comes home drunk he knows he has to sleep on the couch. i sleep with one pillow and i make sure my arm is up between it and the baby's head.
I just brought my kiddies into the bed with us. DH is a fairly light sleeper, and I don't move around a lot in my sleep so it worked well for us. I did have a playpen for them to fall asleep in if we wanted the bed to ourselves but it was rarely used for anything other than when I took a shower. I've heard occasionally how men are afraid to sleep with a baby in the bed, but I was lucky there. With my husbands LONG hours at work he liked our babies being in bed with us. He felt as if he was still spending time with them - even if they were all asleep And he was right there to play with them if they woke up in the middle of the night, spelling me for awhile - which I'm sure would never have happened if he'd had to wake up to a monitor or something other than baby fingers up his nose love, mom
I have co slept with all of my kids, I have my little guy laying next to me right now! It is so much easier imho! This is the only way that I am able to get any sleep!
I had a bassinet for Lily when she was small. We never really used it at night, she always ended up in bed with us. She outgrew the darn thing by 4 months old anyway...I would have been really sad if I had spent $150 on the thing. Lily is 13mo now and she goes between a crib (near my bed) and our bed. Some nights shes glued to me an wants to sleep right in my armpit, and other nights she wants to spread out on her own. I'd say hold off on the cosleeper and see how things go. If you need one later, buy one. I used to be a deep sleeper with the blankets to my chin, and DG was the same way. Once Lily came I HATE blankets and I wake up at her first wimper. DH was scared he would roll onto her but it hasn't happened yet!
